strengthening the will. This means that preaching is not simply an instructive lecture; it is a redemptive event. If we think of the sermon only as a means of transferring information, then we will prioritize making the message dense with historical facts, moral instruction, and memory-retention devices that seem designed to prepare listeners for later tests of formal doctrine or factual knowledge. Such tests are rare. And most people’s inability to remember a sermon’s content in following days can